For years now, Wanted and Kick Ass writer Mark Millar has talked about his epic idea for a relaunch of the Superman franchise - whether it be comic or movie. Now, finally, he's started talking specifics about how he'd save Superman from the movie scrapheap. And we're not exactly convinced. Does anyone really want to see a Superman version of The Godfather movies?Something you can't fault Millar for is thinking small, as he demonstrated to Empire magazine, explaining that his version of a Superman movies is actually an 8 hour movie split into three parts, each released a year apart, just like Lord Of The Rings:

It’s gonna be like Michael Corleone in the Godfather films, the entire story from beginning to end, you see where he starts, how he becomes who he becomes, and where that takes him. The Dark Knight showed you can take a comic book property and make a serious film, and I think the studios are ready to listen to bigger ideas now. The problem with Superman Returns was like releasing Star Wars in ’77, The Empire Strikes Back in ’80 and then waiting 28 years to release Return of the Jedi, it wasn’t relevant. I understand what Bryan Singer was trying to do, to pay homage to Richard Donner’s original vision, but I think you should pay homage by doing something completely different.

And if you're wondering what kind of "completely different" Millar is considering, he's willing to tell you how it starts... and finishes:

I want to start on Krypton, a thousand years ago, and end with Superman alone on Planet Earth, the last being left on the planet, as the yellow sun turns red and starts to supernova, and he loses his powers.

...Wait, so Superman... loses? And dies, because the world ends? Really? That's a surprisingly downbeat ending for a character that thrives in a more upbeat unreality... and also something that kills the franchise, as well. We're also not convinced about starting the story a thousand years before Superman was born - Isn't the main thing about Krypton that it blows up, after all? Bringing in a vast millennium-old Kryptionian backdrop is either going to be gratuitous special effectery or a subplot that suggests a Smallville-esque direction for the trilogy. Ultimately, of course, it's less about what we want, and more about what Warners thinks is right for the character - and it'd be hard to argue with the success of Wanted and excitement around Kick Ass. Here's hoping that Geoff Johns gets his pitch in first. Exclusive: Mark Millar Talks Superman [Empire Online]